Evaluation of cyclic and monotonic loading behavior of bucket foundations used for offshore wind turbines

Abstract

Suction caissons are considered as an alternative foundation solution for offshore wind turbines. In the present study, three-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses are performed to assess the behavior of a bucket foundation and soil supporting the bucket under cyclic and monotonic loading conditions. A parametric study is also performed for a wide range of bucket geometries and two different soil densities. The results indicate that bucket geometry and soil properties significantly affect the foundation response due to cyclic loading conditions. The bucket with the smallest geometry installed in medium dense soil exhibits the lowest stiffness in initial loading and then with the progress of cyclic loads experiences lower stiffness compared to the caissons with larger geometries. The sensitivity of the foundation response to the soil density is higher than its geometry. The bucket under the lowest vertical load experiences the lowest stiffness in both virgin loading and during the progress of cyclic loads. The highest soil displacement is observed near the lid at the interior of the bucket. Stresses caused by cyclic loading belong to certain ranges. Additionally, increases in the skirt length result in increases in the stress ranges and shift the range to the right side. With respect to the monotonic loading conditions, normalized diagrams are proposed that can be used for the preliminary design of suction bucket foundations.